


A (Wildly Unsuccessful) Life Guide

by Applesaday



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: 'cause I can't just watch a show and not critique it, Also serves as an AU where I tweak some things that irk me about the show, F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-20
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2019-01-20 04:08:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12424704
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Applesaday/pseuds/Applesaday
Summary: Waverly liked research.Research meant she could be prepared. It meant that she wouldn’t be caught unawares by the enemy. It allowed her to make a guide for how her life would go.But of course, what’s the point of having a plan if it’ll most likely go off the rails within the first steps?Or: Nicole Haught being a revenant and Waverly being madly in love with her will be extremely bad for Wynonna's blood pressure...once/if she finds out about it that is.





	1. New Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> Hello Wayhaught fandom!
> 
> Decided to dip my toes in this fandom, post this AU which has been nagging in the back of my mind for a while, and see how it goes.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Step 1: Research everything and everyone related to the curse

Waverly liked research.

 

Research meant she could be prepared. It meant that she wouldn’t be caught unawares by the enemy. It allowed her to make a guide for how her life would go.

 

But of course, what’s the point of having a plan if it’ll most likely go off the rails within the first steps?

 

It had all started when Wynonna came back for their uncle’s funeral.

 

Her older sister was going to be staying with her during her visit, so Waverly took her to drop her things off at her loft.

 

Wynonna took a quick look around before smiling and teasing, “So, you’ve traded stuffed animals for...Purgatory’s monopoly on office supplies?”

 

Waverly grinned sheepishly. She did have way too much paper and pens strewn about (and Wynonna hadn’t even seen her closet with the conspiracy style threads and pins all over the wall). “Well no….I just want to be prepared. You know...yesterday was your 27th birthday.”

 

Wynonna cringed. “Come on Wav, can we ixnay on the urse cay?”

 

“No we can’t,” Waverly said with a huff. “You’re the Earp heir, and you have to defeat Wyatt’s-”

 

“I don’t have to defeat anything. If those undead demons want to take over the world, they can be my guest.”

 

“Revenants,” Waverly corrected. “Daddy called them revenants.”

 

“I both know and don’t care what they’re called. I have it all figured out. I’ll stay for a week, so everyone can gawk at Purgatory’s craziest nutjob, and then I’ll leave and never come back. You can come too.” Wynonna shrugged, as if that solved everything.

 

“And what?” Waverly wanted to smack her sister. “You’ll burden your future children to deal with the curse?”

 

Wynonna scoffed. “No. I wouldn’t be that selfish. I just won’t have any kids.”

 

Waverly let out a mirthless laugh, crossing her arms. “So you’ll doom me or my kids to do that?”

 

“What? No!” Wynonna spluttered. “How could you think that? Besides, you don’t really want to get knocked up with Champ’s kids, right?”

 

“So not the point right now! The curse doesn’t just stop being true because you leave! If I’m still alive by the time you die, the curse goes to me. If not, my kids will be left to break the curse, and I’d hate to have to teach them that aunty Wynonna was so selfish and scared, she left them-”

 

“Shut up!” Wynonna roared. “God Wav you just- why can’t you just be normal?”

 

Waverly bit her lip and held her tears at bay as she bit back, “With our lineage, what did you expect?”

 

Before Wynonna could come up with a response, an apology about how she had overstepped her boundaries, Waverly turned on her heel and made her way to the door.

 

“Don’t bother saying goodbye,” Waverly added without glancing back at her sister, before leaving and slamming the door shut.

 

\--------

 

Waverly didn’t have a destination in mind, she just wanted to walk and clear her head.

 

She was reaching the outskirts of town, wishing she had brought a jacket to ward off the chilly air, when she heard a car approaching. She moved to the shoulder of the road, hoping the car would just pass, but it just kept pace with her. She rolled her eyes, not in the mood for some passerby to make lewd comments, so she didn’t even bother to look before she said, “First, I am not your babe, second, I am not interested, third, get lost.”

 

“A bit presumptuous aren’t we?” a feminine voice responded, full of mirth.

 

That got Waverly to stop and look, and her cheeks flushed. If the Purgatory police squad car wasn’t a dead giveaway, the woman wearing the uniform certainly did. “Oh god, I’m so sorry I-”

 

“That’s okay,” the cop was quick to forgive with a smile, parking her car before getting out of it. “Get a lot of catcalls?”

 

“You wouldn’t believe it,” Waverly responded. She looked at the tall redhead, noticing way too much how pretty she looked.

 

“Oh I can. And you can always say you’re friends with a cop who will beat up anyone who catcalls you,” the officer said, crossing her arms and giving her a wink.

 

Waverly ducked her head to hide her blush. “And while noble, I wouldn’t dare keep part of Purgatory’s finest from her job.”

 

“Like the saying goes, protect and serve. And as I’m assuming you’re a resident of Purgatory, that means you are part of my job.”

 

“How very thorough of you, officer....” Waverly said, letting the sentence hang so the other woman could provide her name.

 

“Haught,” she responded with a nod.

 

Waverly chuckled. “I won’t deny that, but what’s your name?”

 

Officer Haught let out a laugh. “That is my name, Nicole Haught.”

 

Eyes widening in realization, Waverly quickly began to blurt out, “Oh god, I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to come on to you or anything, I thought you were just making a joke and I was just going along with it.”

 

“It’s okay!” Officer Haught said with a smile, leaning against her car. Then she glanced at her watch. “But I should get back to patrolling, so how about I give you a lift back into town? It seems pretty chilly to be walking around with nothing but a Shorty’s shirt.”

 

Waverly smiled sheepishly, bringing her arms closer around her semi exposed midriff. “I hadn’t really been planning on taking a nature walk...my sister just said something that grated on my nerves.”

 

Officer Haught nodded wisely, going to open the passenger side door and letting Waverly get inside. “I have an old friend who’s kinda like my sister in a way, and she gets on my nerves too.”

 

Waverly smiled at the gesture of the door opening, and sat down on the nice leather seat. “Yeah, but this time she went above and beyond; she completely ignored a family...tradition because she just keeps being selfish.”

 

Once Waverly was in the car, Officer Haught closed the door and made her way to her own side, wasting no time in starting the car and warming the inside. “That sounds terrible. And I’m sure there’s no way to talk to her huh?”

 

Waverly shook her head. “A brick wall would be more responsive.”

 

The officer snorted in laughter. 

 

Waverly smiled at that. “So, Officer Haught-”

 

“You can call me Nicole,” she was quick to add.

 

With a nod, Waverly continued. “So, Nicole...I don’t recall having seen you before. Are you from around here?”

 

Nicole made a so-so gesture. “I’m from the big city, but decided this town fit my needs a bit more.”

 

Waverly let out a laugh. “Seriously? Backwards country where everything looks like it was frozen in time and everyone knows each other?”

 

Nicole cracked a smile. “I was referring more in regards to my job expectations. No way in the big city would I find myself already a Deputy.”

 

Waverly had to agree with that. “Plus, I’m sure Nedley isn’t a bad boss.”

 

“Somewhat spaced out, but no, he’s one of the good ones,” Nicole agreed.

 

Soon enough, they were in front of Shorty’s, and Waverly turned to her left. “Thank you for the ride back.”

 

“Well, I couldn’t let you freeze, now could I?” Nicole answered with a grin.

 

“When you want, just come in to Shorty’s, and I’ll get you a free drink, how does that sound?”

 

Nicole nodded. “That sounds fantastic.”

 

“It’s the least I could do. Though if you did want something else, I could do it.”

 

“Well, actually,” Nicole started, flashing Waverly a coy smile. “I would accept knowing your name.”

 

Waverly gasped. “Oh geez, I totally didn’t tell you! I’m sorry, I promise I wasn’t trying to be mysterious. I’m Waverly. Waverly Earp.”

 

Nicole’s face turned ashen. “Earp? As in-”

 

“Yes, Wyatt Earp,” Waverly quickly interjected, noticing Nicole’s change in attitude. She figured Nedley told her about Wynonna and brought her up to speed on the whole family drama, so she didn’t think much of it, and hoped Nicole would leave it at that.

 

“Got it,” Nicole said, clearing her throat, not looking at her. “Well, I should get going so…”

 

“Oh! Right, sorry,” Waverly said, shuffling around to open the car door. She would forever wonder what possessed her to lean back towards Nicole and deposit a kiss on her cheek. It felt right for some reason. Maybe she just wanted to silently reassure Nicole that despite the whole crazy family saga, she could trust her. “Remember, free drink!”

 

Nicole was baffled at Waverly’s kiss, and barely managed an audible, “Yeah,” before Waverly got out of the car.

 

Once she saw Waverly go inside the bar, and she was sure she wasn’t being watched, she slammed the sides of the steering wheel. “Shit!”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was chapter 1! I hope everyone enjoyed this, and let me know your thoughts! I'll try to update soon.


	2. Staying Around

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Step 1.5 - Find out there’s another box with a shitload more information

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! I'm super happy everyone seems to be intrigued by the idea, let's see if I can continue to pull it off!
> 
> Enjoy!

Waverly had figured that her day couldn’t get any weirder than it had already.

 

Until Wynonna showed up again. Well, more like she barged in without knocking or even bothering to announce herself.

 

“Honestly, I would ask if you were raised in a barn, but I know the answer to that,” Waverly greeted coolly. And then she spotted the battered box in her sister’s arms. Then the veritable cowboy wearing a duster jacket swaggering in behind her and Waverly shot up and stormed up to her sister. “What the hell? I kicked you out of here. You and your boy toy can turn around and leave exactly the same way you came in from.”

 

Said boy toy’s eyes widened and he looked bewildered. “Now ma’am. I don’t know what a boy toy is meant to be or why you’d assume I am such a thing, but I assure you, I am a man of honour.”

 

Waverly barely spared him a glance, instead preferring to look at her sister, who just walked past her in order to deposit the box on the kitchen table. “I am talking to you, you know.”

 

Wynonna finally looked at her and smiled sheepishly. “So, funny story…I had been totally set on leaving. But then I got nostalgic and decided to visit the old homestead. There, I met Dolls-”

 

“Your name is Dolls?” Waverly asked, looking incredulous at the man beside her.

 

“That is an absurd name! I have more self-respect than that. You can call me Doc Holliday.”

 

It was a record-scratch moment where Waverly looked between her sister and the man to her right. “Doc Holliday...as in the actual Doc Holliday?!”

 

Wynonna made a face before saying, “Yeah...I’ll get to him in a minute. So Dolls is a Dep-”

 

“Back up,” Waverly interrupted again. “How is he alive, and most importantly, where did you find him?”

 

“I swear you are the worst person to tell stories to. I am getting to it!” Wynonna intoned. “Anyway, Dolls is a Deputy Marshall with some clandestine organization...the details are really sketchy. He had somehow followed me, and told me the whole schpiel about demons being real, and I was about to flip him the bird, when a truck full of revenants arrive with the full intention to start shooting at us.

 

“I managed to take cover and Dolls shoots at them for all he’s worth. Apparently he walks around with two guns at all times-”

 

Doc huffed and muttered, “Like any wise lawman.”

 

Wynonna rolled her eyes and continued, “He’s actually a pretty fucking good shot, and he managed to hit all three of them right on the head. But of course, they’re undead, so all he got were glowing red eyes and threats about not seeing the last of them as they cowered and retreated back to their truck. Typical villain stuff.”

 

Waverly was enraptured with the story, but she was growing impatient. “And then? How does Doc figure into all of this?”

 

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” Wynonna retorted dryly. “But if you must know, after those assholes left, I told Dolls that the only thing that would really put them down would be the Peacemaker. So I went and fetched it.”

 

From within the box, she pulled out the famed gun, and Waverly’s jaw dropped. “Where was it?”

 

“With me,” Doc piped up, fingers looped on his belt as if he had been guarding it with his life.

 

Wynonna rolled her eyes. “Not intentionally. Before I left town for good, I figured I would never come back, and the best place to hide it was to just throw it down the well by the homestead. But I wasn’t just going to chuck it down by itself.”

 

“No, instead you had to go and throw in half of the world’s library with it,” Doc scoffed, gesturing to the dilapidated and worn brown box as if it offended him.

 

“I thought you said you were grateful for the distraction it gave you after more than a century of doing nothing in that dank hole,” Wynonna commented.

 

Doc huffed and grumbled. “That may be, but it left a nasty bump on my head that I very much remember and am still quite miffed at.”

 

Waverly snorted in amusement until Doc fixed his steely glare at her. That sobered her up enough to ask, “So were you in that well all this time?”

 

“Indeed. No thanks to that Stone Witch.”

 

Waverly didn’t dare to ask for more details. She had come across the name in her research, but she didn’t know much and Doc didn’t give off the sharing vibe. “So, you threw it in a box of what? Old tax receipts?”

 

Wynonna shook her head. “Not exactly. They are part of grandpa Edwin’s research-”

 

“There’s more?!” Waverly just rushed forward to dig into the box. And indeed, the files that she had used as a base for her own research continued. There were hundreds of sheets in the box, and she couldn’t wait to dig into them. “Why would you throw this out?”

 

Wynonna shrugged. “Didn’t think I’d have use for it. Plus it was the first box I found.”

 

Waverly looked up to look at her older sister carefully. “Does that mean you’ll be staying?”

 

“I uh-” Wynonna was caught unawares with the question. “I guess I have to. I can’t leave you to fight revenants by yourself.”

 

And for all their differences, and the earlier argument, Waverly left it all to the side and just went to hug her sister tightly.

 

Doc cleared his throat and just mumbled something about going to get himself some libations and excused himself, though neither sister paid attention to him.

 

* * *

 

“Are you  going to tell me what’s making you so nervous before or after I go insane watching you pace?”

 

Nicole stopped her pacing and looked at her roommate. “So...I met a girl.”

 

Her roommate rolled her eyes. “All of this is about a girl? And here I thought that over a century of life, you’d be an expert in the sapphic lifestyle.”

 

“Very funny,” Nicole riposted. “The problem isn’t that she’s a girl, it’s who she is.”

 

“Don’t tell me you traded spit with someone in politics? Ooh, or is it a politician’s daughter? Those are always fun.”

 

Nicole sighed and went to fetch herself a drink of water. Her roommate was well-meaning but entirely too invested in trying to make her life interesting. “Neither. She’s an Earp.”

 

She looked at the brunette next to her, and she looked ashen. Nicole had befriended Rosita many decades ago, being two of the few revenants that weren’t determined to either kill the Earp heir or massacre the Ghost River triangle on their way to take over the world.

 

They had managed to stick together and stay under the radar by making sure to not be anywhere near the Earp heir after they became of age.

 

“And we just moved here,” Rosita groaned.

 

Nicole bit her lip before saying, “Maybe we don’t have to leave?”

 

Rosita blinked and looked at her roommate in confusion. “Oh sure, let’s not leave, let’s just get shot at and die a horrible death.”

 

“That’s just a tad bit dramatic,” Nicole said. When Rosita geared up to respond sarcastically once again, she added, “I know that the Earps eventually have to kill all revenants, but maybe they won’t find us.”

 

“You want to live under their noses? How long can you keep that up? Better yet, why would you want to do that? You just met this girl.”

 

“Maybe I like this job and I want to settle down,” Nicole countered. “It doesn’t just have to be about a girl.”

 

Rosita sighed. “Well, I guess that means I’m staying too. I can’t leave you to fend for yourself. You’re one of the good ones and I’d rather not have to search for another roommate.”

 

At that, Nicole beamed. “Then it’s settled: we’re staying.”

 

* * *

 

The next few days would prove to be somewhat testy for the Earp sisters. Wynonna rushed head first into being the heir, receiving shooting lessons from Doc and Dolls, while Waverly was left in the sidelines to just tend the bar and to stay out of trouble.

 

Well, she was doing just that, but she was also doing her own research on the side. The rest of the papers in the box filled in quite a lot of the gaps from her research, but even their grandpa hadn’t been able to identify all of the 77 revenants. There were five of them still in the dark, but Waverly would find them. Even if everyone else had left her behind.

 

“So, that drink?” a voice asked, bringing her back to her job.

 

Nicole was smiling softly at her from across the bar, and Waverly made her way to the other woman. “I thought you had forgotten.”

 

“Not a chance. I’ve just been...busy,” Nicole settled with. “Unpacking stuff, you know.”

 

Waverly did have an idea, so she nodded. “Well anyway, a promise is a promise, so what can I get you?”

 

Nicole ordered a beer, and after Waverly deposited the bottle in front of her, Nicole got to fishing. Well, Rosita called it a masochist’s suicide mission (“Really, it’s one thing to stay in proximity of the Earps, it’s another to actively seek out one of the Earps’ company.”) but Nicole was intrigued by the girl in front of her. “So, did you end up patching things up with your sister?”

 

Waverly made a so-so gesture. “I guess so? I mean, I wasn’t going to stay mad at her forever, but now she’s embracing staying in Purgatory - after vowing to leave it and never come back - a little too enthusiastically.”

 

Nicole nodded slowly, but before she could say anything else, Waverly continued, “And on top of that, she’s got not one, but two good-looking guys following her around, and they try to be all aloof and nonchalant but they’re like puppies around her.”

 

At that, Nicole’s hopes were dashed a bit. “Are you jealous?”

 

“Jealous at what?” Waverly asked.

 

Before Nicole could respond, another patron was beckoning Waverly, leaving Nicole alone with her beer.

 

“You do realize that’s my girl you’re hitting on, right?” A voice spoke from her left.

 

She turned, and saw a boyish looking man who might seem attractive to a girl who doesn’t have high expectations in life, but to Nicole, just looked boring. “And you are?”

 

“Champ, Waverly’s boyfriend,” he announced. Rather loudly too.

 

That got Waverly to quickly slide back over to them and correct, “Ex actually. And what are you doing here?”

 

“Apparently asserting his ownership of you,” Nicole sarcastically stated.

 

“Honestly,” Waverly huffed, turning to Champ. “I thought I had made it clear that we were through.”

 

“Babe, you’re just confused,” Champ started. And in a daring move, tried to vault over the counter to get to her.

 

However, his lack of finesse, combined with a hearty helping of Nicole grabbing him by his jeans and yanking him back, only succeeded in getting Champ to slip and hit his chin rather forcefully onto the countertop and topple over to the ground.

 

“OW!” he whined, cradling his chin.

 

Nicole just glared at him from her stool and let a little bit of her red eyes show, just enough to get Champ to yelp and scatter. Sighing, Nicole turned back to Waverly to see if she had seen anything, but she was no longer there, and instead on the other side of the bar cleaning out some glasses.

 

Any attempts to draw her attention were met with indifference, so Nicole gathered her beer bottle and made her way to the other side of the bar. “Did I do something?”

 

Waverly set the cloth down and after a second, looked at her. “I don’t need protection.”

 

“Who says you do?” Nicole countered.

 

“You did! By that show of bravado trying to pull him away. Champ is a dick but that’s no reason for you to jump in there,” Waverly commented, crossing her arms.

 

Nicole sighed. “Look, I’m sorry if it came off as me trying to take him down to win you over, but I know his type, and you looked pretty uncomfortable, so cop instincts kicked in and I pulled him back. Watching him squirm was an added bonus.”

 

Waverly let out an amused snort. “That’s true.”

 

“But seriously. That wasn’t my intention at all,” Nicole clarified. When Waverly nodded her understanding, she turned to another topic. “So what was all that about? The being confused?”

 

Waverly rolled her eyes. “I told him I liked girls too, and he took it badly. Asking if he had been bad in bed or something. I just told him it’s the way I was, and if he couldn’t accept that, then we were through. Obviously he hasn’t taken that well, and is still trying to convince someone - probably himself - that I’m just confused.”

 

“Well that’s his problem. Any guy or girl would be lucky to have you,” Nicole commented.

 

Waverly blushed. “Well, not in Purgatory. Small town mindset, you know.”

 

Nicole shrugged. “Not really. You’ve got one person right here.”

 

Waverly beamed at Nicole pointing to herself. “You?”

 

“Yep.” And because a century of life hadn’t made Nicole a patient person, she added, “Want to go out on a date?”

 

That left Waverly shocked for a few seconds until she beamed and nodded fervently. “I’d love to!”

 

Yep, a masochist indeed, Nicole thought to herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it for now! I'm not going to be rehashing the show, so a lot of things will go a lot differently - such as Rosita and how Wynonna takes to being the Heir.
> 
> Love to hear your thoughts!


End file.
